The Enchanted Hive
Roots and Shoots
Ms. Melzer’s 2nd Grade Classroom (a.k.a. The Magic Melzer) Mrs. Bush, Student Teacher (the Queen B. doncha know :) ) Matthew Whaley Elementary School, Spring 2008
He spooned the honey onto the cover of one of her books. "Taste," he said, almost in a whisper.
Mary Ellen savored the honey on her book.
"There is such sweetness inside of that book, too," he said, thoughtfully. "Such things . . . adventure, knowledge and wisdom. But these things do not come easily. You have to pursue them. Just like we ran after the bees to find the tree, so you must also chase these things through the pages of a book!"
~ Exerpt from The Bee Tree, by Patricia Polacco
Cover of Patricia Polacco's The Bee Tree
SITE CONTENT OUTLINE
Theme:
Visual images – Bees in a Hive (think of the book, The Bee Tree, in which the true honey is knowledge: http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/bee_tree/bt.html)
The honeycomb is constructed of “cells” that join across content areas
Cells: Exploring Our Hive
A letter from Mrs. Bush and Ms. Melzer to parents, explaining the project, its use, and how friends and relatives may access it.
A weekly highlight will be added, including printable vocabulary seek-a-word and crossword puzzles of featured books and authors.
Science
Kids’ Contributions:
Seed Olympics (tie in to Lit Connect below)
Insects (tie in to Lit Connect below)
Weather Reports – description of climate (garden zone) and daily?
Podcast with weekly “Breaking News from the Matty Whaley Newsroom”
Interview with John Cash? (weather)
Interview with Kathy Millar? (bees)
Resources to Share with Families
Suggested reading list
Weather sites
Gardening zone sites
Social Studies
Kids' Contributions:
Projects about gardens in ancient and modern China
Projects about gardens in ancient and modern Egypt
Gardens across the Globe (possible link to school garden in New Zealand)
Interviews with parents, relatives or friends about memories of their gardens from other parts of the US, around the world, or according to family legend. (Podcast as available)
Resources to Share with Families:
Suggested reading list
Links to appropriate websites
Language Arts
Kids’ Contributions:
Stories / Journals
Diary of a Plant – from seedling to garden
Perspective of a Sunflower
Perspective of a strawberry
Adventure of an insect or arachnid (ground)
Explorations of a butterfly or bee (air)
Perspective of a worm
Gossip from the Garden Guru – an ongoing report of social events in the garden (ie: That Zany Zinnia is at it again! Wild parties reported from that corner of the garden with Dashing Dandelion invading Shy Hosta’s turf and Lovely Lupine’s luxurious locks licked by marauding lollipop, ladybugs crashed the party in a most unladylike fashion . . . ) with a new author every Monday and Thursday (Blog)
Resources to share with families:
Picture books read aloud during class
Books available in the classroom
Links to appropriate websites
Math
Kids’ Contributions
Reports of projects involving:
Roots and Shoots
Ms. Melzer’s 2nd Grade Classroom (a.k.a. The Magic Melzer)
Mrs. Bush, Student Teacher (the Queen B. doncha know :) )
Matthew Whaley Elementary School, Spring 2008
He spooned the honey onto the cover of one of her books. "Taste," he said, almost in a whisper.
Mary Ellen savored the honey on her book.
"There is such sweetness inside of that book, too," he said, thoughtfully. "Such things . . . adventure, knowledge and wisdom. But these things do not come easily. You have to pursue them. Just like we ran after the bees to find the tree, so you must also chase these things through the pages of a book!"
~ Exerpt from The Bee Tree, by Patricia Polacco
SITE CONTENT OUTLINE
Theme:
Visual images – Bees in a Hive (think of the book, The Bee Tree, in which the true honey is knowledge: http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/bee_tree/bt.html)
The honeycomb is constructed of “cells” that join across content areas
Cells:
Exploring Our Hive
A letter from Mrs. Bush and Ms. Melzer to parents, explaining the project, its use, and how friends and relatives may access it.
A weekly highlight will be added, including printable vocabulary seek-a-word and crossword puzzles of featured books and authors.
Science
Kids’ Contributions:
Resources to Share with Families
Social Studies
Kids' Contributions:
Resources to Share with Families:
Language Arts
Kids’ Contributions:
Resources to share with families:
Math
Kids’ Contributions
Reports of projects involving:
Resources to Share with Families: